Tuesday, 29 January 2013

A gift for a girl who has everything

When my daughter was invited to a birthday party, the invitation came with a little note from her friend's mum which read,

'No need to bring a present - it's just been Christmas and the birthday girl really doesn't need anything more.'

If you have children whose birthdays are in December or January I'm sure you've been tempted to write, or have written, similar pleas to stop the onslaught of yet more gifts into an already sated post-Holiday household. But how does one ever square that with the child concerned? Is it really possible that a child could genuinely be OK with not receiving any presents at their party? We racked our brains for a solution to this predicament. Could we really go to a party without taking a present for the birthday girl?

On the morning of the party, my daughter and I talked it out, and she came up with the answer. I was proud of Daisy for taking into consideration both her friend's feelings, and the mum's request. She came up with the idea of making something to take as a gift, and that it should be something small - something that her friend could really use. She announced that a home-made little lavender bag would be just the thing to take to her friend's party.

So, using things from our sewing and craft stash, and the last of our dried lavender, we made the simple no-sew lavender bag pictured above. And it only took about ten minutes.

We mixed our lavender with a bit of rice to give the pillow a heavier, more tactile, feel and placed this in the centre of a square of polka dot material. We gathered up all the corners of the fabric and then made a sealed pouch, big enough to sit in the palm of a child's hand, with an elastic band. Then Daisy chose some lovely ribbon to cover the band - including one that says Nightie-Night - to show that the lavender bag could be used as a sleeping aid. She's getting pretty good at knots and bows now. Lastly, Daisy chose a couple of buttons which I attached at the top ribbon's knot with a few stitches; a final touch of prettiness.

I love that Daisy thought of the gift herself, and that we sourced all the materials from our house. She got to design and make something unique for her friend that ticked all the boxes - apart from not bringing a present at all, of course. But that was really never going to happen, was it.

About Me

Julia, a former school teacher and theatre-in-education performer, is a freelance museum educator and creator of Adventures at Home. Previously an education officer for the BBC and the London Transport Museum with a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies, Julia now teaches hundreds of school children at the British Museum and the Geffrye Museum. It is here that she also devises and leads sessions of stories and song, dance, play and craft for preschoolers. She lives in London with her husband and has two young children of her own.
Adventures at Home is about her family's creative life - they play, sing, dance, cook, build, make and bake whenever they can.
It's a place to exchange ideas, for anyone passionate about nurturing and celebrating play and creativity.